Henry W. Beecher
Henry Ward Beecher was born on this date in 1813. He was a white- American abolitionist, speaker, and writer.
The eighth son of the Rev. Lyman Beecher, from Litchfield, Connecticut, the brother of Harriet Beecher Stowe, who was well-known as the author of "Uncle Tom's Cabin." He was educated at the Lane Theological Seminary before becoming a Presbyterian minister in Lawrenceburg and Indianapolis. His “Seven Lectures to Young Men” pamphlet was published in 1844. Beecher moved to Plymouth Church, Brooklyn, in 1847. By this time, he had developed a national reputation for his oratorical skills and drew crowds of 2,500 regularly every Sunday.
He strongly opposed slavery and favored temperance and woman's suffrage. Beecher condemned the passing of the Kansas/Nebraska Act from his pulpit and helped to raise funds to supply weapons to those willing to oppose slavery in those territories. These rifles became known as “Beecher's Bibles.” John Brown and five of his sons were some of the volunteers who headed for Kansas. He supported the Free Soil Party in 1852 but switched to the Republican Party in 1860.
Beecher's church raised and equipped a volunteer regiment during the American Civil War. However, after the war, he advocated reconciliation. Beecher edited “The Independent” (1861-63) and the “Christian Union” (1870-78) and published several books, including the “Summer in the Soul” (1858), “Life of Jesus Christ” (1871), “Yale Lectures on Preaching” (1872), and “Evolution and Religion” (1885). Henry Ward Beecher died of a cerebral hemorrhage on March 8, 1887.
